


Falling for You

by r0manogers



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Romance, Winter Break, kind of shitty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-30 19:29:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15103403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/r0manogers/pseuds/r0manogers
Summary: Johanna shrugged “okay, okay, I’m sorry, but still in fifty years when you’ll be old and left alone with your anti-social ass and that cat of yours that you hate so much, you’ll think “if I had gone to that party my life would have sucked less and..”“okay, okay, stop” Katniss interrupted her “I’m coming, okay? Just stop it, it’s creepy”Or Johanna drags Katniss to a party and it turns out to be a very good party





	Falling for You

**Author's Note:**

> GUESS WHO'S BACK, BACK AGAIN  
> I can't believe i started writing this last summer and just left it unfinished until tonight, i'm such a mess.  
> However, i was nostalgic af and this is totally random, hope you'll like it anyway.
> 
> English is not my first language, you might find some mistakes, sorry.

"No way” Katniss said, causing Johanna to roll her eyes.

“oh c’mon Katniss” she replied “you have to come”

“I don’t”

“yes, you do” Johanna insisted  “It’s just a party to celebrate winter’s break, it will be fun”

“no thanks” Katniss kept walking to the buss stop.

“hear, I do understand that your anti-social ass would rather stay at home and watch tv shows, but that’s our senior year, we won’t have to do any of this ever again, and if we don’t to it now, we’ll regret it”

Katniss was not a <<party girl>>, in fact through the high school years she did (and still was doing) her best to avoid them as much as she could. She was really not interested in spending the night looking at people getting drunk and make out in every corner of the room. But she knew her friend. She knew Johanna would have asked her so many times that she would have said yes just to shut her up, she knew Johanna would have found a way to convince  her to go, because if she really wanted something, Joanna would have found a way to get it. However it was very unusual, Johanna did not enjoy parties either, not because she considered them “boring” but just “overrated”, so if she wanted to go to this party so badly she would have had a damn good reason. It was useless to try and dissuade her not to go, so what was the point in trying to fight her?!

“Johanna!” Katniss finally stopped walking and turned to her friend “I’m not a senior”

Johanna shrugged “okay, okay, I’m sorry, but still in fifty years when you’ll be old and left alone with your anti-social ass and that cat of yours that you hate so much, you’ll think “if I had gone to that party my life would have sucked less and..”

“okay, okay, stop” Katniss interrupted her “I’m coming, okay? Just stop it, it’s creepy”

Johanna smirked happily “ahh I knew I would have convinced you” she winked at her friend “you can’t miss the opportunity to see Peeta, right?”

Katniss blinked twice, confused “what about Peeta?”

“Katniss, please” Johanna said “you’re telling me you didn’t notice how big is the crush he has on you?”

“Are you insane? He doesn’t have a crush on me”

“oh, he sure does”

Peeta Mellark. Katniss had known him since she was a child, they were always in school together, but they never really talked to each other. They never really talked to each other until last year, when they become science partners. Back then Katniss wouldn’t have really considered him her friend; They worked together during the hour, eventually shared and talked about the project, but when the bell rang they would both collect their things and go back to their lives, until the next time.

But one day, in spring, the first day Katniss came back to school after breaking her arm he brought her some hand-made cookies that he took from his father’s baker store. Since then things changed; They stared to chat and eventually laugh together, they waved at each other when they met in the hallway, and sometimes, when they both were alone they had lunch together. They barely spoke during summer, Katniss went to her aunt’s house in New York at the beginning of July, and Peeta spent all summer at his house in Los Angeles. But school started again, and as soon as they walked in the science class they were partners again, and Peeta would bring her freshly baked cookies every Monday when they have class.

Peeta was great, her relationship with him was great, Katniss didn’t have many friends, so it was nice to have him. Unluckily, from a couple of months Katniss couldn’t help but notice the way he curls his lips when he smiles, or the deep blue of his eyes and the little moles running all over the pale skin of his arm, or the way her heart skips a beat whether he smiles at her, or how every time his hand accidentally touches hers the small contact sends chills to her skin or how she feels her blood  boiling a little every time she sees him talking to other girls in the hallway. So maybe she was the one who should be worrying since she might have a little crush on him.

“Whatever” Katniss said.

 

Katniss started regretting it the second she walked through the door; the room smelled like weed and someone just walked past her to reach the garden to throw up. And she was about to make a witty comment about it, but their friend Gale walked towards them and greeted them with a smile.

“so” he said  “I need a partner for beer pong and I was hoping that Johanna, how’s definitely the queen, would be so nice to play it with me”

Johanna smiled “damn yess”

Gale chuckled, taking the girl’s hand. “you’re coming?” he asked Katniss

“no, I’ll look for Madge” she smiled “and good luck”

Johanna winked “I’m so good I don’t even need that” and then she left with Gale, headed to the kitchen.

It took her a couple of minutes to spot someone she knew, and that was not Madge.

It was Peeta Mellark himself, standing in front of her with his usual friendly smile.

“hey” she said

“hey” Katniss replied

“I didn’t know…” he started, but Katniss interrupted him

“I’m sorry” she said “I can’t hear you”

Peeta smiled politely “right” he said and came a little closer to her, in order talk closer to her ear.

“I said I didn’t know you were a party type of person”

“I’m not” the girl said “Johanna, she dragged me here”

“oh” Peeta didn’t seem surprised “that’s my friend’s house so I was basically forced to be here tonight”

Katniss smiled at him, they both started to feel a little embarrassed.

“ _C’mon Katniss_ ” she thought “ _you talk to him almost every day, there’s no difference_ ”

_There was._

Talking about the DNA or the mitosis, or eventually making jokes was one thing, having a conversation, a real one was another.

_“If he was anybody else you would normally talk to him”_

And she wanted to talk to him as if he were anybody else so bad, but she just couldn’t.

Moreover the fact that he was  wearing such a fancy white shirt and his deep-blue eyes were staring into hers didn’t really help.

They were about to fall in a very awkward silence and Katniss was trying so hard to find something smart to say. However, the only topics her mind could thing of were dull things, things that would make her sound just as pathetic as she felt. However a tall, good-looking boy approached them.

“Mellark” Finnick said happily, putting his arm around Peeta’s shoulder, creating a sort of bro hug.

“hey” Peeta smiled back.

Finnick Odair might look just like all the other assholes of the school, he was really cool, and he was the captain of the swimming team, but he was different.

Katniss had the opportunity of getting to know him, in fact, after she broke her arm, last year, and missed school  for almost two weeks she ended up to be really behind with maths. Finnick, as one of the best in his class, proposed to help her; they would see each other almost every day for a couple of weeks and ended up being good friends. Finnick also introduced her his girlfriend,  Annie, that he defined as <<the love of my life>>. Katniss was not really the romantic type, but he had to admit that those two, even if very young were so seriously in love with each other.

Finnick looked at her for a moment and then his grin became even wider.

“Katniss Everdeen” he said , extremely surprised.

“I would have never thought of seeing you at a party”

“Me neither” the girl replied before asking “where’s Annie?”

“She’s visiting her grandparents in Madrid for the Christmas” he said, then added “I really miss her”

Katniss chuckled and gave him a playful punch on the arm

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. She’ll be back in like two weeks”

Katniss was waiting for his witty response, but he didn’t have the time to say anything; the ring of his phone interrupted them.

Finnick took it from his back pocket and checked who was calling him

“This really saved your ass, Everdeen” he winked at her and walked outside, probably to talk to Annie.

 

 

Katniss and Peeta sat on the sofa next to each other, sipping from their cups but not really talking to each other, just eventually making fun of the drunk people attempting to sing at the karaoke.

“are you hungry?” he asked her, out of the blue

“yeah” Katniss answered “starving”

“there might be still some pizza” he held his hand up to her “come with me?”

Katniss’s gaze wandered from his eyes to his hand, and after a second she put her own hand on his.

Peeta smiled one of his prettiest and purest smile, and started to walk her towards the kitchen.

In the kitchen Katniss gazed at Gale and Joanna, happily celebrating their victory.

Still holding her hand Peeta carefully opened all the pizza boxes on the counter, and then he turned to her, a little disappointed.

“I’m afraid there’s nothing left”

Katniss shrugged “I kinda expected that. But seriously, it’s fine”

Peeta was not really paying attention to her; his expression was focused, like he was thinking very hard.

“Peeta” Katniss waved her free hand in front of his face.

Suddenly he woke up “yeah sorry”  he apologized, “I just…I was thinking that maybe we could get out of here and get some food”

“Food? At this hour?” Katniss asked

The boy smirked “just trust me okay?”

 

Katniss nodded, and they both reached the living room to get their coats and walked out of the door.

“is it far?” Katniss asked, taking her phone out of her pocket to quickly text her friend

“not much” Peeta replayed

However, right before she walked outside, her friend reached her, followed by Gale.

“Jo, listen..” Katniss started, trying to tell her friends she was going to take a walk with Peeta. However her friends seemed not to really care about what she was talking about; they were interested in something else..

“you guys should be more careful, look were you’re standing” Johanna squeaked, a little too excited.

Peeta e Katniss looked up. Mistletoe was hanging right above their heads.

Fuck.Fuck.Fuck

“Seriously?” Katniss asked

Peeta just waited in silence with a little blush covering his pale cheeks.

“Of course” Johanna stated “You guys must do it”

Katniss rolled her eyes, she was well aware that the only way to get rid of Johanna was to accommodate her. She rolled her eyes and looked at Peeta, asking him a silent question. The boy just kept staring at her.

Katniss took a deep breath before cupping his cheeks and pulling him in a kiss.

It lasted a couple of seconds, but Katniss couldn’t help but notice how good it felt to have Peeta’s lips, even if for a short time, on her own.

When they pulled back her own cheeks were starting to turn red, but Johanna’s expression looked quite satisfied.

“Great” she smiled “ Now you can go”

_She was sooo gonna murder her._

 

 

They walked for a couple of minutes, not really talking to each other and trying to avoid each other’s gaze. It before the kiss it was kind of awkward, now the situation was unbearable.

“here we are” he announced.

“oh” Katniss said.

Why didn’t she think about it sooner? Of course he would bring her to his father’s bakery to eat.

She had been there only a couple of times before, mainly when she wanted to bring something sweet to her little sister because she got a bad grade, or when her mother asked her to buy some bread.

Peeta unlocked the door and let her in. Even though it was kind of late that place still smelled amazing.

She walked behind the counter and sat on it.

“soo” she said playfully “what can you offer?”

“Since it’s almost 1:00 am there’s no much left cause my father brings the leftovers at the reception centre; however, there’s still something left” he paused “I’ve got white chocolate cookies, a vanilla doughnut and some cinnamon rolls”

The girl thought about it for a second “I’ll go with the cinnamon rolls”

Peeta smiled “good choice”

He put it in the microwave for a couple of seconds, then he gave it to her and sat on the opposite counter, next to the cash.

Katniss started eating it

“Did you make those?” she asked, with the food still in her mouth.

The boy chuckled “nope, my brother usually does the pastries ”

Katniss nodded, they didn’t speak for a while, and Katniss finished her cinnamon roll.

“that was really good” she said , wiping the crumbs off her thighs.

Peeta nodded and looked down at his hands. They were turning into the awkward silence once again.

Katniss couldn’t stand it anymore, so she took a deep breath and started to talk

“Listen Peeta, I didn’t mean to upset you with that kiss, I just wanted to shut Johanna up, and I’m really sorry you were caught in between”

The boy jumped off the counter and looked at her “It didn’t….it didn’t upset me Katniss” he explained “it was weird”

“yeah, same for me” Katniss  tried to stay as composed as she could.

Peeta chuckled, humourless “I think I’m not making my point here”

Katniss narrowed her eyes, a little confused.

“not I didn’t want to kiss you- kind of weird” he explained

“ just…I imagined this a thousand times and I would never have imagined kissing the girl I’ve had a crush on since I was five under the mistletoe” 

Katniss was honestly speechless. He just declared to her, just like this. But mostly he liked her, like since always.

 _I like you too, so much_.

Katniss wanted to say it so bad, but something inside of her stopped her, reminded her not to be too incautious.

“You’ve known me since we were five?” she asked instead, lead by honest curiosity.

He chuckled “First day of school.  You had on a red plaid dress and your hair... it was in two braids instead of one. So that day, in music assembly, the teacher asked who knew the valley song. Your hand shot right up in the air. She stood you up on a stool and had you sing it for us. And I swear, every bird outside the windows fell silent”

“C’mon, that’s not true” Katniss laughed, sincerely surprised by the boy’s ability to remember so many details.

He took a step closer to the counter, and Katniss felt her heart beating a little faster, and her palms sweating. “I’ll never forget that” he said, as if it was a promise.

“You have a remarkable memory” she told him

“I remember everything about you. You’re the one who wasn’t paying attention.”

From this prospective his eyes looked even more blue, like the sea during the windy but sunny days.

And in that moment, on a random Friday night in December, in a bakery she barely even walked inside, with Peeta so close to her, staring into his deep eyes and smelling his sweet scent, she felt a rush courage.

“I am now” she said, and she pulled him towards her by the shirt, and in less than a second his lips were on hers for the second time that night.

It was soft, and messy and after a brief moment of confusion his hands found her hips and her hands left his shirt to find their way in his hair. He was shy, and a bit hesitant at the beginning, as if he was still not completely sure whether he was allowed to touch her or not, but as she intertwined her legs around him, pulling him closer and closer to her, he groaned softly, low in his throat, and then his arms circled her, gathering her against him. His hands started to wonder under her shirt, gently caressing her skin, never reaching above her hips.

When they finally pulled back, a light and cute shade of pink covered Peeta’s cheeks, probably matching hers.

She spoke first.

“You know you’re allowed to touch me, right?”

Peeta let out an embarrassed grin, pulling a hand through his hair.

“I didn’t want to be too invasive”

The girl chuckled both amused and surprised by  the boy standing in front of her.

She pulled him back to her and kissed his again; this time the kiss was slow, as they had no rush and they both took their time to properly explore each other’s mouth.

Peeta was an extremely nice kisser, Katniss noticed, he was delicate and passionate at the same time, shy but dynamic; he let her lead, just followed her instructions.

When they pulled back again, both out of breath, Katniss let her forehead rest against his and closed her eyes. They stayed like this for a while, ignoring the world outside the shop, and even when her phone rang they didn’t even blink.

Eventually, as Johanna called her for the third time, he helped her getting off the counter and held her hand all the way back to the party.

“Do you think this would work?” he asked, right before going back in.

Katniss smiled, using her free hand to pull some of his curls behind his ear.

“I think it will work”


End file.
